Here's a look at the past. Items have been culled from The Chronicle's archives of 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.

1988

Nov. 17: Jose Canseco, whose exploits led the A's into the World Series, yesterday capped his sensational season when he was unanimously chosen as the American League's Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The first man to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season, Canseco received all 28 first-place votes. "I was really excited. I didn't know you could win it unanimously," said Canseco via telephone from Hawaii, where he is honeymooning with the former Esther Haddad. Canseco can be excused his ignorance of the possibilities of unanimity - it hasn't happened in the American League in 15 years. In 1973, Oakland right fielder Reggie Jackson was a unanimous MVP. "It makes it even more of an honor to be put in his classification," said Canseco.

1963

Nov. 22: Robert Stroud, who found strange and lonely fame as "The Birdman of Alcatraz," died in his sleep yesterday at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Mo. Stroud, who spent 54 of his 73 years in three federal penitentiaries, succumbed to what Warden J.D. Harris described as "the infirmities of age." Dr. Harris said the self-educated linguist, lawyer, mathematician and internationally known authority on bird life was found dead in his cell bed at 5:45 a.m. The stooped, hawk-nosed Stroud, in whom violence and tenderness were perpetually at war, never ceased his efforts to gain his freedom. Last May, he applied for parole, claiming he had successfully demonstrated that his years behind bars - 43 of them in solitary confinement - had effected his complete rehabilitation. His plea, like scores before it, was turned down. Last February, film star Burt Lancaster went to the medical center to visit the man whom he had portrayed. Stroud was never permitted to see the movie or read the book on which it was based. Later, the actor said Stroud discussed the problems that prevented his parole. Among them was the fact that he was an admitted homosexual. Lancaster quoted Stroud as saying: "Let's face it. I am 73 years old. Does that answer your question about whether I would be a dangerous homosexual?"

Nov. 23: San Francisco was quiet last night. There was no usual Friday night throng at Broadway and Columbus in North Beach. Although many of the nightclubs remained open, there was little business. A few, like the Jazz Workshop, were closed. Some, like the Condor, kept their bars open, but there was no music. At others, it was business as usual, and such crowds as there were could find a stripper or a stand-up comic if they wanted. Downtown movie houses remained open, but business was light. Most observed a minute of silence between films. Cable cars were almost empty. The large hotels cancelled all entertainment. All plays were cancelled. Louis Lurie, owner of the Geary Theater, insisted that the theater be dark for the night, although the producer of a comedy playing there wanted it open. "I told him there would be no ushers or stage hands," Lurie said. "The death of President Kennedy was like a death in the family. I wanted the theater closed."

1938

Nov. 17: St. Louis Estes, elderly raw food exponent and father of eleven, is a courageous man being persecuted by the "medical trust." Such was the opening statement of Defense Counsel Alexander Mooslin yesterday when Estes went on trial in Municipal judge Mullins' court on charges he represented himself as an osteopath, dentist, physician and chiropractor without benefit of license. To match a jury of eight women and four men hearing his trial, Estes yesterday brought along his 11 children and his wife. The children ranging in age from 13 months to 16 years have never tasted cooked food. The five boys are Estes II, III, IV, V and VI, otherwise known as Sonny, Howie, Fatty, Sugarplum and General. The girls are Natacha, Dimple, Chickadee, Honeysuckle, Suzanne, Fanchon and Dixie Lou Medora. Mrs. Estes is just plain Esther. After hearing the morning session, the family retired to their Nob Hill penthouse for lunch and Estes returned alone. Sole point in the legal set-to was that Estes expounded a philosophy of raw food eating and keeping away from physicians.

1913

Nov. 23: Thrills aplenty are promised by exhibitors in this afternoon's air races at the Panama-Pacific Exposition grounds. The opener is a 25-mile free-for-all race, which will take the birdmen three times around Alcatraz Island. Bob Fowler and Harry Christofferson will furnish the second number of the program when they fly a 10-mile match race, these machines are very evenly matched, both being equipped with eighty-horse-power engines. The bomb dropping contest is the number in which the aviators are taking an unusual interest. The birdmen will fly at an altitude of 500 feet and drop oranges on to a canvas target 6feet square. {sbox}

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